Method of making downspout hooks



Sept. 18, 1951 M. RACHLIN 2,568,027,

METHODOF MAKING DOWNSPOUT HOOKS Filed June 1a, 1948 2 Sheets -Sheet 1'M. RACHLIN METHOD OF MAKING DOWNSPOUT HOOKS Sqept. 1251951 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1948 INVENTOR.

Mum 4X Patented Sept. 18, 1951 UNITED STAT ES PATENT FF ICE METHOD OFMAKING DOWNSPOUT HOOKS Max Rachlin, Flushing, N. Y. Application June 18,1948, Serial No. 33,897

'- in a lower cost of manufacture than hooks as heretofore manufactured.More particularly, the downspout hooks may be made from hotrolled, coldrolled or draw-n strip metal; from hot-rolled or cold-rolled sheetmetal; or from wire having any desired cross-sectional con-figu- 1.1

ration, such as round, square, triangular, etc.

Another object of the invention is to simultae neousl-y partiallyformand harden a plurality of downspoutho'oks with. a single operationof a die press, thereby reducing the number of forming operations percompleted hook from 4 to 2 1 or 2.

A further object of the invention is to provide a; downspouthook madefrom fiat metal or wire which possesses greater strength than thestrength of the metal initially, and one which has no weakened twistedportions and is not damaged by hammering.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a downspout hookformed from flat metal or wire in which the driving tang and hookportion are flattened in the same direction whereby both are hardenedand materially strengthened and there is no weakened point of connectionbetween the two.

Another object of the invention is-to provide a v 1 downspout hookformed from flat metal or wire in which the driving tang is offset fromone end of the hook portion, and thehook portion is reinforced by anexterior flattened rib portion, and as thus strengthened, insures apermanent configuration, whether semi-circular, semi-hexagonal, or anyother configuration.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawing forming apart of the present disclosure, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a strip of metal cut to proper lengthillustrating the first step per- 2 Claimsr (Cl. 29--150) press in closedposition and illustrating the crosssection given to the central portionof the strip of metal by the die press;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the strip of metal after it has beendie-pressed, illustrating the second step in the formation of the twohooks;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the strip of metal after it has been cut outand trimmed, illustrating the third step in the formation of the twohooks;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6-6of Fig; 4, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating thetaper and serrations formed in the end portions of the strip of metal inthe die press;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of one ofthe completed hooks,illustrating in this instance the hook portion bent into the form of asemi-circle, which is the final step, and is performed on each of thetwo hooks separately;

Fig. 8 is a front view of the hook as illustrated in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view illustrating how asheet of metal, rather than a narrowstrip, may be used in making my hook;

Fig. 10 is a plan view illustrating an alternative manner of cutting astrip of metal to proper length in the first step of my method;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the strip of metal illustrated in Fig. 10,after it has been die-pressed;

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the latter strip of metal after it has beencut out and trimmed;

Fig. 13 is a plan view of a wire blank that may be used in making myhook; and

' 'Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on the line I l-HI of Fig. 13,looking in the direction of the arrows.

formed in the formation of my downspout hooks in accordance with onemethod, and showing in broken lines the two hooks" to be made therefrom;Fig. 2 is a fragmentary central sectional view through the die presswith the strip of metal of Fig. l'positioned therein ready to bepressed;

Fig. 3 i's'a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the Referring now to thedrawing, wherein Figs. 1 to 8 illustrate the hook and one manner ofmaking it, a stripof fiat metal such as steel, stainless steel, copper,or any other metal, e. g., to 7 wide b to i%" thick, or thicker, isfirst cut to proper length to'form the blank or strip of metal Iillustrated in Fig. 1. In this instance, the ends of the blank I' arecut on a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blank, andthe blank is therefore rectangu lar in plan view.

As indicated by the broken lines representing the two hooks 2, 2 to beformed therefrom, the length of the blank I is equal to substantiallythe axial length of one entire hook 2 plus an'additional length equal tothe length of the driving tang ii thereof.

The blank I is fed to a die press 4' such as 3 illustrated in Figs. 2and 3, in which the blank I-is given the shape illustrated in Figs. 3, 4and 6. As indicated in these figures, the end or tang portions 3 of thepartially formed blank I are tapered and provided with transverseretaining serrations 5, while the longitudinally extending centralportion of the blank I is pressed with at least one and preferably twoconvex die members 6 and 1 to form concave surfaces or elongatedrecessed or reduced portions 8 at opposite sides of the central portionof the blank I lying between the end portions 3'.

The next step is to cut or trim the partially formed blank I, and Fig.illustrates how the blank I is trimmed or cut longitudinally along theaxis of the reduced portions 8 and laterally from the ends of suchlongitudinal cut to separate the two hooks or members 2, to form thedriving tangs 3, to provide the offset portions or shoulders 9, and tocut out the central portion In lying between the hook portions II of thehooks 2.

The next step in the process is to bend the elongate narrow hook portionll of each hook 2 into its desired configuration. The downspout hook ofthe present invention is'adapted to be used with downspouts of variouscrosssection, such as circular, rectangular, hexagonal or any otherparticular shape.- The form of hook chosen for illustration is adaptedto be used with a circular downspout and hence as illustrated, the hookportion II is bent into the form of a semi-circle. Obviously, however,the hook portion II may be given substantially a U-shape to receive arectangular downspout, or it may be given a semi-hexagonal shape toreceive a hexagonal downspout.

Figs. 10 to 12 illustrate an alternative manner of cutting the strip ofmetal to further reduce the waste in metal. In this modification, asbefore, the strip of metal is first cut to proper length to form theblank or strip of metal I illustrated in Fig. 10. However, in thisinstance, the ends ll of the blank are cut on a line inclined relativeto the longitudinal axis of the blank. The ends H are parallel and maybe considered to be cut on a bias, or diagonally, and the blank in planview has the shape of a parallelogram.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate a blank I formed from'wire of any desiredmetal such as steel, stainless steel, copper, etc, from which mydownspout hook may be made. As illustrated, the wire is first cut toproper length and the ends ll of the wire are cut on a line inclinedrelative to the longitudinal axis of the blank as previously describedin connection with the blank I". It will of course be obvious, however,that the ends of the blank may be cut on a line perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the blank if desired, as previously described inconnection with-the blank I. It will also be obvious that thecross-sectional configuration of the blank -I; instead of being round,as illustrated, may be square, triangular, or of any other desiredconfiguration, and the cross-sectional area thereof is preferably withinthe range previously described in connection with the strip of flatmetal, e; g.,- /s4 to /123 square inch, or larger.

As previously described in connection with the blank I, each of theblanks I and I has a length equal to substantially the axial length ofone entire hook 2 plus an additional length equal to the length of thedriving tang 3 thereof. The blank I or I is fed to the die press 4 aspreviously described, in which it is given the shape illustrated in Fig.11. The end or tang portions 3" of the partially formed blank I' aretapered and provided with transverse retaining serrations 5 while thelongitudinally extending central portion of the blank I" or I is pressedto form concave surfaces or elongated recessed portions 8 at oppositesides of the central portion of the blank I' lying between the endportions 3".

The next step is to cut or trim the partially formed blank I, and Fig.12 illustrates how the blank I is trimmed or cut longitudinally alongthe axis of the reduced portions 8 and laterally from the ends of suchlongitudinal cut to separate the two hooks or members 2, to form thedriving tangs 3, to provide the offset portions or shoulders 9 and tocut out the central portion I0 lying between the hook portions II of thehooks 2.

The next step in the process is to bend the elongate narrow hook portionII of each hook 2 into its desired configuration as previouslydescribed.

It will be obvious that by cutting the ends of the blanks diagonally asjust described, less metal will be trimmed from the ends of the blankthan if the ends of the blank are cut on a line perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the blank as previously described. In addition,less power is required to press the end portions of the blank. For thesereasons, the diagonal cut ting of the ends of the blanks is preferred.

From the foregoing it will be clear that my method comprises thefollowing steps or operations to form two hooks; (1) cutting the stripof flat metal or metal wire to form the blank; (2) die-pressing theblank to simultaneously harden the metal in the two hooks; (3) trimmingboth books simultaneously; (4) bending the hook portion of one of thehooks; and (5) bending the hook portion of the other of the two hooks.vThe first three operations are performed on both hooks simultaneouslyand hence by my method the total number of operations to form two hooksis reduced from 8 to 5, or, the number of operations per completed hookis reduced from 4 to 2%.

It will also be clear from the foregoing description that Waste inmaterial is practically eliminated in my method. Merely the relativelythin metal removed from the central portion ID of the blank and the trimat the ends 3' 0r 3 is discarded. The latter will be even less than thatillustrated when the hooks made are to be used in brick or concretewalls. The hooks 2 illustrated are for use in wood and thus haverelatively narrow driving tangs 3, whereas hooks to be used in brick orconcrete are provided with much wider driving tangs and there is thusless material wasted at the ends 3 and 3" when the latter type hooks aremade.

Fig. 9 illustrates how a sheet of metal, rather than a narrow stripthereof, may be used in my method.

The sheet ofmetal I5 therein illustrated has a width equal tothe lengthof the blank I and is not cut into blanks prior to being fed to the diepress as is the blank I.

In this form of the invention, the sheet or metal I5 is fed directly tothe die press, intermittently or step-by-step, and each time the diepress is actuated, a strip or incremental length I6 of the sheet I5 isgiven the form or shape illustrated in Fig. 4, partially forming twohooks 2 as indicated by broken lines.

After the sheet of metal I5 is passed through the die press, thepartially formed blanks defined by the strips or incremental lengths l6may be cut from the sheet I 5, and subjected to the trimming and bendingoperations previously described in connection with the blank I.Alternatively, if desired, the partially formed blank cutting operationcan be combined with" the trimming operation and thus reduce the totalnumber of operations per completed hook to two, rather than two andone-half.

It will be obvious, of course, that a sheet of metal such as the sheetl5 may be used to form the blanks I, rather than an elongated strip ofmetal, if desired.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that I have provided adownspout hook which is cold worked and composed entirely of either flatsheet metal or metal wire, in which no metal weakening operations areemployed since the pressure applied to the metal to form the "hook isall applied in the same direction and no twisting action takes placeduring the course of making the hook. The hook that I have provided, asillustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, will be seen to have been strengthenedduring the course of its manufacture since the flattening and pressingof the metal materially strengthens the hook. Attention is particularlydirected to the hardened exterior rib portion l2 of the hook portion IIwhich functions to reinforce the hook portion so that the same willpermanently retain'its shape whether it be semi-circular, or any othershape.

It is to be particularly observed that the driving tang 3 is in generalspaced radially outward from the hook portion l l and thus all blowsreceived by the offset portion or driving head 9 are transmitteddirectly to the driving tang 3 with no ill effect upon the hook portionII. If any effect should occur with respect to the hook portion, it willbe advantageous because the hook will be forced snugly against thedownspout.

In the appended claims, the terminology strip of metal is intended toinclude both flat metal and metal wire of any cross-sectionalconfiguration.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No.767,424, filed August 8, 1947, now abandoned, for Downspout Hook.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead or the ones explained, change being made as regards the articleand the steps herein disclosed, provided those stated by any of thefollowing claims or their equivalent be employed.

I claims" 1. A method of making downspout hooks, which comprises,die-pressing an elongate strip of metal defining a blank to taper eachend portion of said blank and to form an elongated longitudinallyextending central reduced portion between said end portions, thencutting and trimming said blank to form two said hooks includingtrimming said end portions and cutting said blank longitudinally alongthe axis of said reduced portion and laterally from the ends of suchlongitudinal cut to the opposite edges of said blank to separate saidblank into two mem bers each having a shoulder, a tapered end portiondefining a driving tang with said shoulder, and an elongate narrowportion, and finally bending said elongate narrow portion of each saidmember into a hook of desired shape.

2. A method of making downspout hooks, which comprises, feeding a sheetof fiat metal through a die-press in a step-by-step movement,die-pressing said sheet of metal in strips or incremental lengthsdefining blanks to taper each said end portion thereof and to form anelongated longitudinally extending central reduced portion between saidend portions, then cutting and trimming each said blank to form aplurality of hooks including, trimming said end portions and cuttingeach said blanklongitudinally along the axis of said reduced portion andlaterally from the ends of such longitudinal cut to the opposite edgesof each said blank to separate each said blank into two members eachhaving a shoulder, a tapered end portion defining a driving tang withsaid shoulder, and an elongate narrow portion, and finally bending saidelongate narrow portion of each said member into a hook of desiredshape.

MAX RACHLIN.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rachlin Dec. 26, 1944Number

